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In the movie adaption of the bestselling novel Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike stars as Amy Dunne, who goes missing on the day of her fifth wedding anniversary.
The director, David Fincher of Fight Club and The Social Network, was confident in his choice to cast a relatively unknown British actress for the coveted part.
In an interview with W magazine, he said, “I liked that people didn’t immediately know who Rosamund was. I’d always liked Rosamund in movies, but I didn’t really know her. That made her very interesting.”
As the actress prepares for her role as the newest “It Girl” in Hollywood, here’s what you should know about her most important job yet.
1. She Almost Got a Concussion During Filming
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Ben Affleck plays Amy’s husband, Nick, who is the lead suspect in his wife’s sudden disappearance.
Her scenes with Affleck are very intense, and get physical. In one fight scene in particular, she almost suffered a concussion.
“I think probably around take 18 of getting my head bashed against the wall, I literally saw stars,” she told Variety.
Playing a tumultuous couple had an effect on the actors.
“We could have really great conversations on set and talk for hours. And then another day, we would barely speak a word. It’s funny. Ben and I would have these scenes that were very giggly and sort of romantic. And then we’d go to this very dark place….I tried to get us out of that,” she said in an interview Flynn did for Glamour.
2. She Reached Out to Tom
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Although Pike has starred in films before, this was the first where she had to be there on the first day of filming.
Pike came down with a fever the night before. “I threw up three times. My body was going through a lot of changes,” she told Variety.
In order to gain some perspective, she reached out to her former costar, Tom Cruise. The pair made Jack Reacher together in 2012. “I thought, “I’ve got to reach out to somebody who has been in this position,” she told the magazine.
Cruise told her, simply, “Trust yourself. You’re in the hands of a great director. You’re ready.”
3. She Got in Shape for the Role, Which May Have Led to Her Pregnancy
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She is expecting her second child with boyfriend Robie Uniacke, and Pike credits her physical condition for helping that along.
“I’ve never been in such good shape. I think that’s why I probably got pregnant so quickly,” she told Vanity Fair.
In Glamour, Pike said, “I gained 12 pounds, exactly what it says in the book. And I lost it, then gained it, and lost it again.”
4. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Was Her Muse
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To play the seemingly demure and sophisticated Amy, she used John F Kennedy’s Jr.’s wife as inspiration.
“There’s not much out there about her. You never heard her speak. You just see those pictures of her hiding her face. The way she moved—I used quite a lot of that body language and mood,” she told EW.
She continued:
She’s the dream girl. That’s what Amy was for Nick. She’s the one you can’t get out of your head because she’s perfect.
5. NPH Lightened the Mood During Their Sex Scenes
Neil Patrick Harris plays her ex-boyfriend, and the two engage in a love scene. Fincher asked that they rehearse the scene alone for two hours.
Pike admitted that it was a little strange to be in that situation. “You’re alone with a man who’s not your husband, who also has a husband,” she said in the interview above with Seth Meyers.
“He’s in his underwear. You’re in your underwear, and you’re sort of dry humping on a bed,” she continued.
In her Glamour interview, she dished that the actor made her feel comfortable, saying, “Neil was incredible at that. We were in hysterics on the sound stage.”